Seasonal Salad

Dinner tonight was pretty and fresh-tasting. This was much needed after the gluttony of Thanksgiving, and sort of a reprieve from all the heavy meals of the holiday season. Both of these recipes came out of a Costco cookbook. Yes, really. I happened to be in Costco the day after Thanksgiving (not as bad as it sounds), and as I was walking they handed me a free Costco cookbook. My expectations were low, and they were blown out of the water. There are actually some really solid looking recipes in the book, so don't decline the offer if they are still handing them out.

Baby Spinach Quinoa Salad

-adapted from Enjoy Cooking The Costco Way

The pomegranate arils (did you know that is what the seeds you eat in a pomegranate are called? I did not.) make this salad. If you really don't want to mess with a pomegranate, you could certainly use dried cranberries or cherries or a diced apple or pear, but really, pomegranates are so beautiful and seasonal. They only take a few minutes to deal with, and give you a high yield for your work. I can eat off a pomegranate for a couple of days. They are awesome in a yogurt and granola parfait, by the way. Cut the fruit in half crosswise, and then cut each half in half again (ok, just cut it into quarters). Get a big bowl of water and submerge the quarters in the water as you squeeze and scrape the arils out, separating them from the pulp. When you are all done, just pour the arils in a colander, pick out any remaining white pithy pieces and rinse.

• 1/2 cup dry quinoa
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 1/2 red onion, finely chopped
• 3/4 c. feta cheese, crumbled
• 1/2 cup pomegranate arils
• 3 T. red wine vinegar
• 2 T. extra virgin olive oil
• 2 t. honey
• 1 t. Dijon mustard
• salt/pepper to taste.

Cook quinoa according to package instructions, fluff, and let cool. I did this early in the day and then tossed the salad just before serving. Whisk vinegar, oil, honey, Dijon, salt/pepper together in a small bowl. In a large bowl, toss the quinoa, spinach, feta, onion, pomegranate arils, and dressing together. That's it!